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There are several different ways of adding the 'if' meaning to a sentence. Here えば, たら and なら are covered.

There are several different ways of adding the 'if' meaning to a sentence. Here えば, たら and なら are covered.

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えば Replace the final 'u' of the romaji version with 'eba'. For example the [[Godan verbs|godan verb]] 'aruku' becomes 'arukeba'. The [[Ichidan verbs|ichidan verb]] 'taberu' becomes 'tabereba'.

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えば Replace the final 'u' of the [[Romaji|romaji]] version with 'eba'. For example the [[Godan verbs|godan verb]] 'aruku' becomes 'arukeba'. The [[Ichidan verbs|ichidan verb]] 'taberu' becomes 'tabereba'.

Making adverbs from adjectives

However i-adjectives and na-adjectives can be used other ways as well.

Adjectives at the ends of sentences.

クレイさんの車は赤いです。kureisan no kuruma wa akai desu.
Clay's car is red.

クレイさんは元気です。kureisan wa genki desu.
Clay is well.

In polite (~masu form) text both sorts of adjectives are used with です desu after them. With i-adjectives it is usual to have the adjective change, but the desu not changing. (前の車は黒かったです。mae no kuruma wa kurokatta desu. The previous car was black.)

In dictionary (plain) form i-adjectives need nothing after them at the end of sentences. (クレイさんの車は赤い kureisan no kuruma wa akai) but na-adjectives are more like nouns and have to have the plain copola だ da after them (クレイは元気だ。kurei wa genki da.)

Turning adjectives into adverbs

Both i-adjectives and na-adjectives can be turned into adverbs, that is used to modify verbs. Let's see how that works.

And now for na-adjectives.
ポールさんは下手に歌っています。po-rusan wa heta ni utatteimasu.
Paul is singing badly.

This time you just put a 'ni' after the na-adjective (instead of a 'na').

Making the て form

If you know how to make this form, you can do a lot! Later we will look at other grammar points that are based on the te form. By itself the te form makes a verb a request (or demand)

のむ nomu (to drink) > のんで nonde (drink)

たべる taberu (to eat)> たべて tabete (eat)

する suru (to do) > して shite (do)

These are the ways to make the te form for each of the 3 types of verbs. If you are new to the "types of verbs" thing, don't worry. Now I know there are many grammarians out there that would argue against what I am about to say, but here's my advice. Don't worry about learning all the confusing rules about how to make this verb do that. Just say it as you feel it should be. Of course you will make many mistakes, but if you keep your ears open and learn from your mistakes you will get a feel for how the verbs work. Take the te form for an example. If you memorize the 3 examples at the top you should be able to guess what other verbs may change to. Or even if you guess wrong, the correct form should be at least familiar to you.

Become になります

To show the state of becoming... something, use ～に なります ni narimasu The ni is placed after what is becoming something. The narimasu means to become. Nouns and -na adjectives use ni narimasu. -i adjectives are different, but for now there are enough useful nouns to look at:

Another usage of する -or- します is "to play" as in sports or games

more, ~er もっと

One easy way to say "MORE" or "-er" is to add a もっと motto before the thing you want to emphasis. This is one of the rare times that the word order is the same with English - or at least with the more part! Relish the moment (while you can)

{ motto ~ = more ~ }

もっとピーマンを食べなさい。 motto pi-man o tabenasai. Eat more green peppers.[~nasai is like the te form in that it gives commands, but it is stronger. ]

AND FOR THE:

{ motto ~ = ~er }

もっと早く言って下さい。 motto hayaku itte kudasai. (Next time) please say (it) a little earlier. [Useful when someone tells you NOT to cut the yellow wire of the bomb after you have done that...]

if

There are several different ways of adding the 'if' meaning to a sentence. Here えば, たら and なら are covered.

えば Replace the final 'u' of the romaji version with 'eba'. For example the godan verb 'aruku' becomes 'arukeba'. The ichidan verb 'taberu' becomes 'tabereba'.

歩けば十分かかります。arukeba juppun kakarimasu.
If you walk it will take 10 minutes.

たら is formed the same way as the past tense of the dictionary verb with ら added. So 'iu' goes to past tense 'itta' to 'ittara'.

手伝うと言ったらそうするでしょう。tetsudau to ittara sou suru deshou.
If he said he'd help then he will.

手伝う（の）ならさっそくはじめてください。tetsudau (no) nara sassoku hajimete kudasai.
If you're going to help, get started now please.

もし is a word that goes at the start of a sentence and lets you know that an 'if' phrase is coming up. もし can be added to all of the above example sentences.

Special 'if' phrases

Some useful phrases ...

もしよければ・・・
moshi yokereba...
If it is ok with you... [let's do this...]

もしほしかったら、
moshi hoshikattara,
If you want (it), - when offering something to someone

Can できます

There are a couple of ways to say "I can..." in Japanese. The easiest is できます dekimasu. Let's look at how to form some sentences.

CAN + NOUN [できます]

1. 日本語ができます。 nihongo ga dekimasu.
I can (speak) Japanese. [I can do Japanese.]

2. 漢字ができます。 kanji ga dekimasu.
I can (read/write) kanji. [I can do kanji.]

3. スカイダイビングができます。 sukaidaibingu ga dekimasu.
I can skydive.

CAN + VERB [ことができます]

Actually, the above are all shortened versions without the verb. Let's add the verb. koto means thing, but here it is used to make a verb a noun so it will work with dekimasu.